The Deviant
by Alexis Prink
Summary: BTS Fanfiction Featuring Rapmonster: In Hae has grown accustomed to the grit and grime of her job: walking in the shadows, using her empathic abilities to anticipate and fight darkness. But a new threat is on the rise, one that could force the hidden world of deviants in which she lives into the light. (source: infiresgeneration dot tumblr dot com)
1. Chapter 1

The rain fell fast and hard, the drops so large they hit In Hae's eye like tiny fists when she looked up to get a feel for where the moon was. She wiped her eye and cursed. It was too cloudy. She had no sense of the time now. Her phone had run out of batteries while she ran after the Troublemaker. It was the stupidest name, she thought. Couldn't he have been a little more imaginative?

All she knew was the old woman had said he was planning to attack a residential building. An apartment. With a particular target in mind. At 2 a.m. And it would be raining. She'd followed the Troublemaker to this area and lost sight of him, and now she had no idea which way to go. She closed her eyes, honing her senses, trying to get a feel for any fear in the area.

That was the problem with the Troublemaker. He had no remorse, no real emotion. The only time she could sense him nearby was when he he was getting a thrill as he was killing a new victim or robbing a bank or, as was his full time job, crushing another business, growing his firm's monopoly in the energy industry under the banner of green, renewable energy. She didn't know where the energy actually came from, because it was, apparently, renewable. But there was something fishy about the whole operation.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a pang in her chest. She felt the fear just as strongly as whomever was feeling it at this moment, and it was nearby, she could tell. But where. She closed her eyes to get a better sense for the emotion. It pulled her in a particular direction. Down. Was she on top of the very building that the victim was in? Or was it just a child afraid from a nightmare. It was worth the risk. She'd just have to keep her sense reaching for other signs of terror nearby. Her own nervousness kicked in. She could always tell the difference between the feelings that were her own and those of others. What if it was wrong? What if she couldn't save whomever it was.

She went to the roof's door and picked the lock. It was a strong lock too, and it would have taken a less capable person far more time to break it. She, however, unlocked it in a matter of seconds. Inside the quiet stairwell, she could hear the rain pelting the rooftop as the water dripped from her soaked person. Ah, this won't do, she thought. But what else was there, she needed to wear the costume. All black. A ski mask over top of that. She looked like a burglar. But still, it was worth having something to cover up her identity. She wore a bulletproof vest too. It was a double blessing, protecting against bullets and, to a certain extent, knives, and it also covered her breasts and bulked up her figure, making it harder to tell her gender. But still, it was uncomfortable to be so wet.

She crept down the stairs, the fear pulling her toward the 10th floor. The door she was led to was dark, the light beside it broken. She wondered if this was a sign of the Troublemaker coming by. It was locked. This was a different sign. Maybe he wasn't there. But then she heard a bump inside. Quickly and with steady hands, she gently picked the lock and opened the door silently. She was glad the hallway light was out.

The interior was dark as well, save for a dim light coming from the back and to the right. Lightning flashed, illuminating the living room with a plain white couch, bearskin rug (fake, she judged from the entryway hall) and a lamp by the coffee table. It looked clean. A large window, from which the lightning gained entry, made up the far opposite wall. She crept forward once again, letting the light from the back bedroom, she guessed, guide her path. She didn't hear the noise again as she tiptoed. The going was painfully slow, and as she reached the corner she heard a bang. A second bang, and a breaking, like the sound of a lamp falling over and a light bulb shattering. Sure enough,the light that had been guiding her path disappeared.

In Hae jumped, too loudly. Screw it, she thought, running into the room and turning on the lightswitch. Instead of Troublemaker standing over the bed as she expected, In Hae saw someone she'd never seen before with a long frown on the saddest face she'd ever seen standing over the bed. The only thing was, he looked sad but his eyes were shining. Not with tears, but with a glee she'd only seen in Troublemaker's eyes when he was about to do something horrible. She wasn't sensing anything from him though, so it must not be real. Or it must just be what his face looked like. He was standing over a surprised looking man laying in bed. He had on glasses, and a book lay idly on the bed. When the lights switched on, both figures looked over at In Hae.

"Ah, what's this?" The man with the frown said slowly. His voice was breathy and syrupy, like In Hae imagined a frown would sound if it were a noise.

"Where's the Troublemaker?" In Hae kept her voice smooth. She'd learned how to control her own emotions a long time ago. It was the price she paid to hone in her empathic abilities. She felt emotions strongly, and it was too hard to feel her own and others constantly. So she learned to control both. Which is the only reason she was able to feel calm now.

"Yes, he told me to come. We were expecting you."

"How could you be expecting me," In Hae said, more out of skepticism than shock.

"That old woman who came in today, you think she was helping you? She was working for us. Or, rather, we were working with her. She's not really an old woman. Or she's more than an old woman, if you know what I'm saying. But that doesn't really matter in the end, now does it."

"What the hell is going on," the figure on the bed yelled.

"Ah, I couldn't forget about you. We've been looking for you for a long time. Waiting, may be the better word."

"You're so long-winded," In Hae said before rushing at him, bringing her taser gloves out from behind her back and pressing the button on the side of her hand with her thumb in a swift motion. She swiped at the sad man's face, catching him on the cheek and causing him to fall back off the bed.

"You've got a reason to frown now, I figure," she said, jumping up on the bed, the man behind her standing up next to her and picking up a baseball bat she hadn't noticed by the bed.

"You didn't reach for that earlier?"

"I was reading."

"For real?"

"I was into it."

In Hae shut his fear out, as it was distracting her. She didn't need to know more to know it was his fear she was sad man jumped back up. Or rather glided back up. This time, he seemed bigger than before, the cape behind his back growing large and wide as he went to envelop them both. Before he got a chance, In Hae recharged her glove and pressed her hand again into his neck, grabbing the soft skin and sending fissures through the man's body. The man behind her began hitting the sad man's arms, which were stretched out with the cape. The dark figure fell to the ground, twitching, as the man began to beat him on the ground. In Hae winced, feeling some of the pain from the sad man seep into her before she had a chance to control it. "Stop stop."

"What, why?"

"Just stop," she said. As soon as he had, In Hae gasped in relief. Only sometimes did she feel the physical pain from others, but it was usually when the subject she was empathing with associated the physical pain with a traumatic memory or experience. The sad man jumped up and ran through the window, his cape billowing behind him and allowing him to glide into the dark below.

In Hae breathed out, the hot air catching on the mask in front of her face and making the fabric warm as well as moist. She realized in that moment she was still soaking wet and jumped off the bed, turning to face the man in the room. She bowed, as was her custom in such situations.

"I'm sorry for causing such a mess."

"A little mess is the least of my problems right now," the man said. He had blonde hair, dyed, but stylish. His eyes were dark, and, In Hae noticed, he had dimples, which were deep-set in his cheeks as he smiled at her in relief and gratitude. She could feel it inside her own chest and had to refocus to shut it out. It was unnecessary and distracting at this point.

It struck In Hae as odd that Troublemaker would go to so much trouble to have this man assassinated in a complicated plot. And why drag her here? To make a point? That would be like him. They'd been looking for him for a long time. Was "they" just Troublemaker and the sad man? And the old woman, apparently. Or were there more?

"Excuse me but, do you have any idea why they would be looking for you?" She was hyper conscious of her wet clothes.

He shook his head before his eyes glanced at her dripping figure. "Would you like to change or dry off or something? I'm Namjoon, by the way."

"Thank you, but no," she said. She ignored his introduction, not offering her own name. Perhaps the villains had wanted her to stay close to this person to take them both out at the same time. But either way, she couldn't very well leave him to himself. Based on what the sad man had said, Namjoon wouldn't be left alone for long.

"I'll be leaving then," she said, heading toward the door to the bedroom.

"Don't leave, please," he called, trying to keep the panic from his voice. In Hae could feel his anxiety knocking on her chest. She didn't open the door and chose to shut it out instead.

"They won't try again tonight. It's not the troublemaker's modus operandi. He likes style and flourish, and trying again the same night after an unsuccessful attempt is something he'd consider tacky, even if he sends a henchmen to do the job."

"Still," Namjoon hesitated. "Could you stay? You don't have to be in the could wait in the living room or dry off in the bathroom. Whatever you want."

In Hae considered him through her mask, her eyes glued to his form. Because her mask had opaque coverings over the eyes, Namjoon was looking more at her forehead than her eyes, though she could see him searching the mask's face for where her eyes might actually be.

"I'll look around," she said, leaving the room.

"Wait a second," he jumped out the bed awkwardly, hopping on one foot as he landed near the shattered glass from the lamp. He hopped to a dresser in the corner and searched through the drawers, bringing out a folded, crisp white undershirt and sweatpants, holding them out to her.

"I promise I won't try to see your face if you change into these to dry off." In Hae grabbed them from him and left the room, closing the door behind her. Back out in the living room, she decided against turning on the lights and threw the clothes on the couch. Spotting a charger in the wall by the couch, she pulled out her damp phone, shaking it a few times, and plugged it in. She walked back to where she'd thrown the clothes, ignoring them and instead picking up the pile of mail that had been put sloppily on the table.

"He must have a maid or something come in every so often," she thought. "The place is too spotless, considering how carelessly the mail was put on the table."

She looked through. Subscription renewal reminders for Rolling Stone, a bill, and a postcard from someone named Jeon Jungkook. One of the envelopes caught her eye. It had been opened already, torn carelessly, the letter read and placed back inside. She pulled it out and began reading it.

The letter detailed the lab results from Namjoon's visit to the hospital earlier that month.

"The results for your test were inconclusive. An abnormality in the thyroid was detected, suggesting hyperactivity, but you tested negative for hypothyroidism based on your symptoms. No abnormality in your vision was found, despite complaints of intermittent headaches and blurred vision. More testing is needed to determine malformation in parietal lobe. Contact our offices to consult about a CAT scan for more conclusive results."

So they think there's something going on in his brain, In Hae thought. Though what the thyroid had to do with it, she couldn't fathom. She'd dropped out of med school after the symptoms of her empathic abilities became too severe for her to control enough to concentrate on her studies, but from what she could remember, she couldn't think of anything that might cause the symptoms she was seeing described in the letter. She replaced the paper in the envelope and looked around. It was clear she wouldn't be able to leave this person on his own. Another attack was certain, and until she figured out why they seemed to want him gone, she would need to follow him closely. Lightning flashed again, a low rumble, far off, following after. The flash illuminated the open kitchen, shining black marble surfaces and floor tiles against pristine white walls. A calendar hung on the black refrigerator. She lifted the page to the right month. April. The picture for that month was a yellow cartoon bear with a large head standing over a flower with an umbrella. A few items were scribbled on the upcoming dates, some illegible. One, tomorrow, was conveniently written large and neat. "11 a.m. Charlie's Place."

Nothing else stood out. Checking back at her phone, she turned it on. Ten percent battery. It must be a speed-charger, she thought gratefully. She unplugged it and looked to the left of the kitchen. Three black doors stood at the end of a short hallway, one of which was open. In Hae could just make out the bathroom sink through this doorway in the dark. Creeping closer, she opened one door. A closet. The final door creaked open, and she peaked her head in, fumbling for the light switch. It looked like a makeshift studio, a series of mics strewn about the small room and a large, three-monitor computer at the far end facing away from the door in the windowless room. Random bear figurines lined the shelves in the room, as well as cd's, awards and lots of books. Philosophy, history, language, fiction, biographies. This man liked to read. A cork board against the wall next to a large whiteboard caught her eye. Business cards, notes and other papers were pinned onto it. One caught her eye. "Charlie's Place," it read. A restaurant downtown. Another card caught her attention. "Kim Namjoon." Ah, what is it you do, she thought, grabbing the card. Producer, lyricist and rapper. In Hae couldn't see why a group of people would want to annihilate an artist. It couldn't be that. She put the card in her phone case, planning to input the number later.

At that moment, her phone lit up.

"I heard a rumor and I need to meet with you. Auntie's house. Three hours." It was signed Agust D. Could he seriously just stick to one phone number and stop being so dramatic, In Hae mumbled. She turned to leave the room, confident she could find him again tomorrow. When she walked out of the room, she bumped into Namjoon's chest.

"How long were you standing there," she said, jumping back.

"Only just now." He looked at the clothes on the couch. "Are you going to leave?"

She nodded. "Don't worry. Like I said, they won't be back tonight. I need you to think about why they might be after you."

"How will I know how to contact you if I figure it out or if they come back? What should I do? I can't just sit around."

"You'll figure out a way to contact me. I know a lot of things. I see a lot of things. And anyway," she tapped her temple with her pointer finger twice, then reached up to his temple and tapped it twice with the same fingers. "You're smart. They won't get you that easy."

Namjoon smiled nervously and unconvincingly, sighing. "Life is uncertainty anyway, I guess."

In Hae smiled, despite herself, at this perspective. She started to walk for the door before thinking better of it and walking toward the window, opening it, and jumping out. For effect. She hated this option, the panic rising in her chest as the wind cut through her damp clothes, the rain falling with her as she flew past the ninth and eighth floors. She opened her arms, letting the folds of dark fabric hidden underneath catch against the wind beneath her as she used the makeshift gliders to slow her path. With one hand, she took a hook from her belt and, with expert timing, latched it to a window sill as it passed by. The force of the stop nearly pulled her arm out of its socket, but she held on, wincing.

She breathed out as her body got over the shock of the force. Sloppy, she chastised herself wordlessly. Using the length of thin, strong rope she had attached to the hook as part of the compact repelling device attached to her belt, she let herself down as many floors as she could reach, putting her feet on the nearest window sill and making sure she was on securely before remotely retracting the hook's claws and bringing it down soundlessly toward her with a snap like a tape measurer. She repeated the process from her current location until she was safely on the ground. She looked around before slipping into an alleyway and sprinting from shadow to shadow.

In this way, she found herself in front of a red door in an alley. The rain had stopped, and light from a single bulb above the door cast glimmery reflections in the puddles scattered on the ground between the old brick buildings. She pressed her palm against the door, breathing raggedly. Her limbs were shaking, her shoulder on fire from her earlier miscalculation. She closed her eyes. Next time, don't be so eager to use the hook before you've slowed down a bit, she thought. She rubbed her shoulder with her good arm. It would likely need to be iced, but that would have to wait. She rapped on the door, the sharp sound stabbing her ears against the muted noise of traffic nearby and the steamy warm of after-rain. A moment passed before she heard a whir. Looking up, In Hae waved at the dark camera in the corner, barely visible in the shadows. Soon after, the door swung open enough for her to come through.

Inside, she was ushered into a door on the side by a small, old woman. Auntie. In Hae had met her on many occasions. But this time, In Hae couldn't help thinking of the the unassuming elderly woman who gave her the tip about Troublemaker, and distrust welled up inside her. The woman eyed her as she brought her into a small room with a yellow velvet couch on a black and white marble floor. It was the only furniture in the room, save for a row of wooden lockers lining the wall and a series of showers on either side of the room. The old woman handed her a towel and pointed at one of the showers. In Hae grabbed the towel, too harshly, and followed her gesture, closing the curtain and turning on the water spout, letting it grow burning hot as she removed the dark clothes and bulletproof vest.

The hot water put goosebumps on her skin as it beat down on her, and she let out an involuntary sigh. As she washed the night's grit from her body, the sweat and grime of exertion, her mind turned to dimples and blond hair. How could you be so immersed in reading you couldn't realize a tall man had entered your room? In Hae smiled, closing her eyes and remembering his voice when he asked her to stay. When she'd bumped into him coming out of his studio, she smelled his cologne. Old Spice, or something similar. A crisp, deep smell.

A warm, thick feeling, like Kahlua, seeped from a spot in her chest into her limbs and stomach, causing her to swallow and hold her throat. It wasn't unpleasant, but she wasn't sure what it was or where it was coming from. Hopefully she wasn't picking it up from that Auntie. That would be uncomfortable. She focused to plug the figurative hole from which the feeling was coming, but despite her best efforts, a residue was left, like it had spilled and puddles were left or like a leaky faucet. This was new, she thought. She finished her shower, trying to ignore any thoughts that might come to her mind and the feeling that wouldn't quite go away.

A robe had been left for her draped over the couch. She stared at it, clutching the large, soft towel around herself, before grabbing the robe and pushing her arms through, tying the sash in a loose knot and stepping into the fuzzy white house slippers placed neatly under the couch. In Hae walked to a door on the side of the room by the lockers and opened it, stepping through into a comfortable looking living room. It was filled with antiques, a strange decorative choice for someone like Agust D. She had never questioned it. A large fish tank filled with tropical colors glowed softly underneath a mantle where a fireplace might otherwise have sat. The only thing out of character in the room was a whole book shelf taken up with comic books and Star Wars paraphernalia.

Agust was standing with his back to her, the sleeves of his crisp, white shirt rolled up to the elbows as he poured tea into two cups, dropping two sugars in one and pouring milk in the other delicately. In Hae closed the door, and he looked back over his shoulder, his eyes stopping on her abruptly as he saw her walking onto the carpet. As he kept his gaze glued to her, In Hae felt a stab of lust coming from him. She looked down at the carpet, scratching her neck and clearing her throat.

"Ah, I apologize. It's been awhile, and I'm always thrown a bit when we meet." He grinned slightly, smoothly, and motioned to a seat nearby as he stirred the two drinks with a small spoon. She sunk into the overstuffed couch, accepting the cup, the one with milk only, from him as he handed it to her before taking a seat himself and picking up his tea.

"What's this rumor," In Hae said, setting the cup in her lap and wrapping her hands around it, letting her palms absorb the warmth rather than take a sip.

"Always straight to the point," Agust leaned back in his seat, sipping his tea and looking at her over the top of his cup. "Is that a habit or is it just with me?"

"It's been a bit of a long day."

Agust nodded, taking another sip before holding the cup steady in one hand and raising his other hand, making a stirring motion with his finger over the steaming liquid. The tea began to swirl with his finger, though he wasn't actually touching it. Show off, In Hae thought.

"I've heard through my network there may be something, or someone, we need to be on the lookout for. A potentially powerful deviant. One the other side is looking for."

Deviant was Agust's name for people like In Hae and himself. People who exhibited heightened abilities. For her, empathy was heightened to extreme heights. For him, it was his interaction with water molecules. Humans have a natural relationship with water, absorbing from the environment and expelling it in forms like sweat or spit. But he could do so much more, moving large bodies from great distances if he liked. In Hae knew of people who could do anything from pinpointing the exact cause and location of a smell to being able to control their hair growth at will. Sometimes the deviation was more dangerous, like the inability to control the force of one's breath and causing buildings to fall down or heightened, uncontrollable physical strength. She heard of one person whose metabolism was so fast she had to eat constantly or she'd waste away. According to the rumor, the person had been killed by the Thai government because she was depleting resources.

Some lived their lives normally, others used their heightened senses to help others, whether through traditional fields or, like In Hae, in the shadows. Others used their senses for personal gain. It was like something out of comic books or Hollywood, In Hae thought.

"Who is this 'powerful deviant?'" In Hae quizzed, looking blankly at Agust.

"We don't know yet. Apparently, this person's deviation hasn't surfaced yet. As you know, the abnormality often doesn't appear until the person has reached 21, when their brains are normally supposed to reach full development. For deviants, their brains don't stop. So deviations may begin to appear as early as 21 or 22 as they continue this prolonged development."

In Hae sat without responding. She knew this. It was unnecessary to reiterate what she already knew. She was the one who'd written the speculative study on the subject. She wasn't taken seriously by most scholars and scientiests, though some found it amusing and imaginative.

That's how she'd met Agust. It had been a month since it had been published in any scientific journal before he contacted her, asking to get dinner and discuss. Ever since, she'd been working with him to keep some semblance of order in the city against other deviants while he worked to make a file of the different deviants. Classic Marvel, except that it was real. And Agust was no scientist. She didn't know exactly what he was. He seemed to have a lot of wealth and no public life. But he was the only one she'd been able to talk with about the deviations, aside from those she met randomly in everyday life. Even then, the topic was taboo, an unspoken understanding between two deviants that brought a sense of comfort.

"Anyway," he continued. "We need to be on the lookout. We need to find this person before your friend the Troublemaker gets to him first and either kills him as a threat or recruits him, guiding him in the wrong direction."

"It could be a woman," In Hae said, finally taking a sip of the tea.

"It could. I got an alert from a city hospital. A friend I know there. He has an amazing deviation. Allows him to create a 3-dimensional model of the inside of a patient's body based on his heightened spatial memory and processing abilities. He's saved many people that way. Anyway, he alerts me if anybody comes in complaining of strange symptoms. He hasn't been able to get ahold of the files yet, but a patient came through their doors last month complaining of blurred vision, headaches, an increased appetite but no weight gain, difficulty sleeping. It was a man. That's all my contact knew."

The image of Namjoon's nervous smile flashed in In Hae's head. She thought it best not to mention what had happened that night. Not yet.

"You want me to go to the hospital, keep an eye out?"

"Go, see what you can find until my contact hears more and use that wonderful ability of yours to feel out the situation. This person is probably confused and a bit scared, especially as the deviation starts to manifest itself in more concrete ways."

"It's not much to go on."

"No, but it's something. You might pay a visit to your friend the Troublemaker in his offices."

"Are you kidding?"

He eyed her over the cup, looking over her robed form. She kept the anger and discomfort from rising in her stomach. "Only slightly. You might get something from meeting with him. We can't prove anything against him criminally without blowing apart the country's criminal justice system, what with the abnormal methods used to commit the crimes, and I know that frustrates you. But a visit give us an idea what he might be up to or what he might know."

"Why don't I just leave that up to you?"

"Oh he's not interested in meeting me. He's always gotten a thrill out of infuriating you."

In Hae sighed. It was true. But she had better things to do. Like protect this man she was almost positive was the exact deviant they were looking for. Still she kept silent on this point.

"I'll see what I can do," she said, rising from her seat and putting her tea down. "If that's all you need, I should get going."

"You could sleep here tonight," Agust said, putting down his own cup and spreading his legs. In Hae watched him as he moved. He was attractive, she admitted, and influential despite how young he was. But his repeated advances had always annoyed her more than anything else. She wanted to be taken seriously, and this kind of attention certainly didn't make her feel that way.

"As there are no spare bunks or dorms in this facility, I can only assume you mean one thing," she said. "And I'm afraid I'll have to pass. Have a good night." She walked toward the door to the showers, where she'd left her clothes. She felt a hand on her lower back. Agust had silently rushed forward and was guiding her toward a different door.

"Auntie dried your things while we were talking," he said.

"I hope she didn't take anything or put a mic in my clothes," In Hae said, staring forward.

"Now why would you say that about Auntie? What has she done?"

"Nothing, old ladies give me the creeps lately."

He seemed to think that was funny and smiled, opening the door for her and saying goodnight as she passed through. "If you need to contact me, use the usual method?"

In Hae nodded, waving as he closed the door behind her. She breathed out in relief to have been left alone. She was in a dimly-lit hallway, the wooden flooring and white walls covered in black and white photography. Her clothes lay neatly folded on a table in the middle of the hall. The bulletproof vest had been placed with the mask in a large scarf and tied up neatly before being placed in a shopping bag. Anyone outside would think she'd been to a department store. It would be an hour before she got home, she thought as she changed in a room just off the hallway. She wouldn't have much time to sleep before she had to get up again. Groaning at the thought, In Hae took her things and walked out the front door.

The red door from the alleyway was simply one access point to the facility, which was actually made up of a series of row houses connected together, each of which was owned by Agust D. She sighed. It would have been nice to just sleep there, but Agust seldom had free beds available, as they were often taken up by deviants who had lost their jobs due to their symptoms or were simply confused or wished to help Agust's research. And the alternative would force In Hae into closer quarters with Agust than she preferred. Much too close. She sighed, glad to be rid of her mask, and clutched the oversized black sweater, now loose without the armor underneath, closer to her body, walking forward.

It was 8 a.m. when In Hae's body woke up her up. Thirty minutes before her alarm. She groaned, rubbing her hair as she buried her face further into her pillow, inhaling the fabric of her probably dirty pillowcase. She couldn't remember when she actually got home, but she had collapsed on her bed and fallen asleep immediately. She rolled over before a sharp pain wrenched her body into an upright position. She stood up quickly and approached her mirror, ripping off her shirt with the arm that wasn't paining her. The shoulder showed no bruising or deformity. She sighed in relief. At least it wasn't dislocated after all. She wouldn't have been able to move it at all if she had. She judged it was a bad sprain.

"Seriously?" she moaned under her breath. "I have a feeling things are only going to require more physical exertion. Couldn't you have not done this?" She said this last thing to her arm, though she knew it was only herself, not the limb, she could blame. She put on her makeup in the bathroom as best she could, wincing when she moved her arm, and took two ibuprofen tablets, sticking the bottle in her purse before getting dressed.

She was keeping an eye on a man, she considered. She eyed the light blue dress with the flowy, short skirt. Cute? She imagined her walking by him in it, he catching her feminine figure as she passed and unable to look away. In Hae shook her head. She needed to be mobile. And no heals. She couldn't support herself with both arms very well if she tripped with this shoulder. She tossed jeans, shirts, other dresses on the bed before coming back to the blue dress. The skirt wasn't that short, she thought. And if she wore spanx underneath it would be pretty good for mobility. Plus there was no way he would mistake her for the mysterious figure from the night before. The flowy, sky-blue was too different from the bulky, shapeless black she'd been wearing. Not that she'd have to talk to him. It was a good disguise. She chose gray converse sneakers that showed off her ankle to go with it. Perfect, she thought, pleased with herself.

She gently eased a pleather jacket over her shoulders and slung her purse over her arm and headed out. She didn't have to be at Charlie's Place until 11. She suddenly got a craving for tacos.

Why would I want tacos right now, she said. What am I, pregnant? The urge was overwhelming. She sighed at herself before switching directions and heading for the only taco place she knew within a ten minute walk. As she walked, that warm, thick feeling seeped from that same spot in her chest, causing her to walk faster toward the taco shop. What is this, she wondered. It couldn't be that old woman. Too far away.

The feeling grew stronger, spreading through her limbs slowly the closer she got, so by the time she pushed her way through the door of the restaurant, she was having trouble standing. She rushed to a stool at the counter, the mariachi music coming faintly through the speakers above her. She pulled herself up onto the stool, sitting still with her arms on the countertop as she waited for the feeling to fade and tried to focus on blocking it. She had succeeded to a degree when a menu was placed in front of her and someone passed a water under her face. In Hae looked up, surprised.

She saw dimples and blonde hair.


	2. Chapter 2

What was Namjoon doing here next to her, looking at her with concern? She gaped as the feeling came back in full force again, this time with a second emotion shooting in from the outside and mixing with it.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm fine. I just really need a taco apparently," she gasped, taking the water he'd offered her and drinking it thankfully.

Namjoon's chuckle faded as In Hae drained the entire glass, gasping for air loudly as she pulled the cup from her face and dropped it on the table.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly as she wiped her mouth, trying to shield her face from him as she did so. "I don't know what's gotten into me. I had the strongest craving for tacos I've ever had 20 minutes ago."

"You better order one fast," Namjoon smiled, sitting next to her and tapping the menu. He pulled a coffee mug that had been sitting a few places away closer to him with his long arm and took a sip, waiting patiently as In Hae looked through the menu, turning each page impatiently and then back again.

"This is ridiculous but I don't want anything on here," she said sheepishly, pulling the menu up toward her face and peaking at him from behind it. Namjoon laughed.

"Go for the waffles. Bacon, eggs, cheddar and hot sauce on top."

"Here?"

"Of course. It's great. I come here for the coffee." He took a sip for emphasis. In Hae smiled.

"Wait," she started. "Do you live near here?" She'd been all over the place last night and hadn't placed his apartment complex in context.

"It's a subway stop away," he said. "And a few blocks. I really like it. Plus the owner's my friend Jin's wife."

"That's a good reason," In Hae said. A woman came up and took her order. In Hae pointed at the woman as she retreated to the back and gave him a questioning look. He shook his head.

"She's not working today. She's on maternity leave." In Hae nodded. There were three other groups in the place besides them, one a small family and the other two solo diners.

"I guess the word about the coffee and waffles hasn't spread, huh," she said.

"Just on the weekday mornings. The weekends get busy. I'm Namjoon, by the way."

"I know," In Hae said before she could stop herself. Namjoon gave her a surprised look and she stuttered. "I mean, you're, uh, you're Namjoon. The rapper."

Namjoon's face lit up and he looked down at his coffee, the dimples deep in his face as he smiled and looked back up at her. "You've heard of me?"

"Yeah, yeah, your stuff is great. I didn't like rap before but your stuff really opened a door for me." In Hae cursed at herself internally for her slip-up. Of course she knew him, but only because he'd introduced himself yesterday.

"Wow, this is great. Thank you so much, I've never met a fan before. I have a small following, but I'm hoping to get some reach in the next year with a new group I'm working with. Wow, this is…which songs do you like?" In Hae felt a stab of nervousness with the last question. She was having a hard time distinguishing what emotions were coming and going and swirling around her brain at the moment. The warm, full sensation had calmed a bit, but she still hadn't been able to block it, and it was messing with her ability to distinguish one feeling from another. Nervous anxiety was easy to spot though.

"Oh how can I pick," she said slowly. "I've liked a lot of your most recent stuff. Um, which one has the most meaning for you?"

Namjoon launched eagerly into a monologue, rambling and passionate, about his music and the fear, insecurity and hopes behind his songs. Despite never having heard one note or line from any of them, In Hae couldn't help smiling.

She leaned her cheek against her hand as her arm rested on the counter. She hadn't even noticed her waffle had come before Namjoon stopped and rubbed his neck self consciously.

"Sorry, I've been keeping you from your food. Is it cold? Do you need your coffee warmed up? You've been so polite."

"Polite? What are you saying? You're fascinating. I mean, what you're saying is fascinating," she shook her head and leaned over her waffle, quickly cutting off a large piece with her fork and sticking it in her mouth to keep herself from talking more. He smiled, watching her chew.

"I didn't get your name."

"Oh. I'b ihd hay," she said, struggling between bites. She shook her head, chewed quickly and swallowed, the lump going slowly down her throat. She took a sip of coffee before trying again. "I'm In Hae."

She turned. Now he was the one with his head resting on his hand as he leaned toward her. "How do you spell 'hay?'"

"H-a-e. Why?"

"That's the Chinese spelling. It means 'the sea.'"

"That's something really random to know."

"I heard it once in middle school. I don't know why I remembered that," he paused. "It's pretty. The Korean spelling means graceful. They both fit."

In Hae laughed. "You're going to say that after I ran in here and chugged a glass of water in front of your face?"

Namjoon laughed, his eyes scrunching and his dimples gracing his cheeks again. "You did it gracefully. And the sea is full of water, which you are now." In Hae laughed harder, snorting involuntarily, causing them both to have a fit.

Finally recovering, In Hae asked the waitress for another fork and offered to share her waffle with him. He accepted the offer, and they devoured it together as they talked. An alarm on Namjoon's phone sounded, breaking their conversation.

"Oh," he said, pressing a button and cutting the music for the alarm off. He looked at In Hae and stared for a beat, sighing through his nose softly. "I have to leave for a meeting."

In Hae flinched. "Ah, right."

He hesitated. "Do you want to come with me? I mean, if you're not busy. You probably are, with work or friends or life or hobbies or a boyfriend or…"

"I don't have a boyfriend," she blabbed. "I mean, no, I'm not busy. I don't have anything. My job is complicated, so my schedule is free at random times." That was an understatement. She shook her head. "I'd love to come, if it's not going to be an imposition."

"Not at all, you can either sit with us or get more coffee or food and wait or anything really. It really won't be weird, they're pretty laid back. We'll just be talking about the upcoming mixtape and a larger album we want to release before the year's over."

In Hae smiled and nodded. She fought with Namjoon over the bill, finally succeeding in slapping her credit card to the waitress before he could, smiling triumphantly. Namjoon rubbed his brow and smiled back, threatening he'd get her next time.

"You can try, but I'm quick. Remember that," she said, tapping her temple twice with two fingers before reaching over and tapping his temple twice with the same fingers. When she did that, Namjoon flinched and squinted briefly before smiling again.

"Let's go," he said. They walked side by side, their hands grazing each other every so often as they moved. Every so often, In Hae would catch him looking at her strangely. She would catch his eye and he would quickly avert his gaze to his feet or up ahead. She could take it as flirty or suspicious or a mix of both, but she couldn't quite get a read on him, and so she chose to ignore it. The feeling inside her stomach was overwhelming other incoming feelings.

They arrived at a hole-in-the-wall burger joint, the walls a yellowed color that may have once been creme or a brighter yellow, depending on how you looked at it. Despite it's small size, the place was more full than the taco joint had been, a customer at every table. Namjoon looked at a text and gestured for In Hae to follow him into the back. Two men sat at the table, a short, blonde man with full lips and a puppy-dog look about him and a sunny looking man with bright eyes. In Hae picked up a contagious excitement from him.

"Hey guys, this is In Hae. In Hae, this is Jimin and Hoseok." She shook hands with both.

"Sorry to crash your meeting, I would take a seat outside but it's a bit crowded," she said as she took the seat Namjoon had just scooted out for her. Hoseok poked Namjoon's ribs as he sat down, eliciting a silent rebuke from Namjoon, whose face had turned red. Jimin laughed and handed In Hae and him two menus.

"Let's get started," Hoseok said in a mocking tone as he pressed his hands against a table and made his voice deep and booming. "But seriously. We have a few things to discuss, a timeline. We've set up a time for next week to get things finalized with the label and after that we'll set the mixtape up for download. We do have a few more details to discuss."

They launched into a discussion heavily reliant on context that In Hae didn't have in order to understand. But it was pleasant to hear the banter of people used to working together, and it was familiar and normal and comfortable. In Hae enjoyed listening. Before she knew it, the plates had been cleared and Jimin and Hoseok were standing, shaking hands with them both, and exiting with a "nice to meet you" and a smile from each. Namjoon turned to In Hae.

"I'm glad you came," he said as he put his share of the tip on the table.

"Me too," she agreed. They stood still, observing each other briefly, before Namjoon opened his mouth again.

"Hey, uh…" He was cut off when the ground thundered and the wall shattered, the bricks falling away and exposing the alleyway behind the restaurant. In Hae pulled Namjoon down and behind the shelter of the table as she pushed it over to act as a wall as the bricks flew. A figure appeared in the rough doorway left by the explosion.

The figure coughed, waving the dust from his face, and In Hae recognized the deep tones of the Troublemaker. \

"I hope you've had your fill, it's time to go now," he said, finally recovering himself.

In Hae peaked over the table, quickly pulling her dress down over her legs and hoping Namjoon hadn't seen her exposed upper thigh. The Troublemaker hadn't bothered to wear a disguise this time around. He wore his business suit, the black tie and white shirt he was accustomed to wearing while operating his business from the top floor of V Tower.

"Taehyung, what brings you here," she yelled. She knew what he was doing there, but she couldn't resist the banter, especially when she knew how much he hated when she, his nemesis, called him by his real name.

He sighed, his deep voice growing closer as he approached the table. Why oh why had she worn a dress? She reached into her purse and slipped on the taser glove.

"I didn't know you'd be here, Hae Hae." In Hae grimaced. Touche, Taehyung. "I won't be taking you along, but that's alright. It's better you're here. I can send you off with a beating before I go."

"You don't want a kiss instead?" she quipped.

His handsome face smirked, then scowled. "Don't tease me like that, In Hae, it's no fun."

"No, here, I'll really do it. You just have to close your eyes and lift your chin up for me."

"I don't think so."

"Okay, I guess I'll just have to do it anyway." She launched herself over the table, reaching out to Taehyung with her glove charged. Before she could reach his throat, he grabbed her wrist and punched her stomach with his other hand in one motion, holding her there as she gasped, the wind knocked out of her.

"Was that desperation? You really are a bit useless, no real power. You should have just become a psychiatrist or a police officer or something and been done with it. You'd be a handy human lie detector." In Hae looked up and saw his eyes begin to change color. He was changing the weather. Dammit, she thought. He could bring lightning down at any second.

She pulled him toward her suddenly and brought her knee up forcefully to his crotch, eliciting a groan as he staggered back and released her wrist. "Ugly one and two, come on out," he gasped, holding his frontal nether regions. The sad man appeared from behind the wall as well as another person. In Hae couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman because it was covered in rubbery looking balls.

"Oh, I call him Bombardier. Those warts are explosive. It's how I got in here. A bit disgusting. But useful," Taehyung offered.

The Bombardier pulled one of the growths off and threw it at In Hae. She dodged. The growth hit the ground, causing a localized explosion and catching In Hae's heel in its heat. She held back a yelp as her ankle grew hot and pieces of brick pelted her legs.

"The more he uses, the larger the explosion. That one was like a BB pellet. Not lethal, but it hurts." Taehyung was standing back, enjoying the sight of In Hae struggling.

In Hae picked up a large brick and one half of another, running at the group, dodging another blob and throwing the first brick right at the Bombardier, missing, and hitting the sad man in the shoulder instead. He flew at her with his cloak outspread, and she rolled out of his way, right onto her injured shoulder.

She cried out involuntarily, recovering quickly, and threw the other brick half at the Bombardier again. This time the brick grazed one of the warts on his shoulder, causing it to pulse and grow slightly before it popped. The small explosion triggered the others to explode. In Hae jumped behind another table as the force from the explosion propelled her in the air. She saw fire and more brick pieces shoot over her head as she just barely missed them and landed hard behind the table. She peaked over. Taehyung had jumped to the corner and covered himself in a thick layer of fog and rain, bypassing the fire. The Bombardier lay on the ground, sizzling but alive, and the sad man was…

In Hae turned in time to see blackness envelop her. The daytime turned to dark, and the air grew stifling. She heard the sad man's voice somewhere distant, making her drowsy as she tried to make out any real words. But it was muffled. And it was so warm in there. Hard to breath. Very hard to breath. She gasped. There was no air, and it was so warm. As she felt her brain shutting down, she heard a muted blast from somewhere outside the pitch darkness and a cry, then Taehyung's voice. As suddenly as the darkness had enveloped her, it pulled back. Her vision was fuzzy, and In Hae couldn't make out what was going on as she tried to push herself up to look. Someone else pushed her head back down and covered her with their body. A sharp wind pulled whatever breath In Hae had managed to get into her lungs away from her, and she blacked out.

A voice, familiar, reached her in the gloom of her mind. Slowly, In Hae's eyes opened, and she saw Namjoon, his eyes wide and his plump lips open as he mouthed words she couldn't quite make out. His face was close to hers, and she could feel his hands on her, one on her shoulder and one behind her head. She inhaled sharply, and with it came the sound and the realization that she was in the back room of the burger joint, the hole in the wall still there, the rubble, and a group of confused people looking in from the doorway.

She pushed herself up, grabbing her shoulder and yelping as she did so.

Namjoon helped her sit the rest of the way up. Her dress had scorch marks on it, and she saw a few burns and cuts on her legs.

"What happened?" In Hae said, her voice raspy. Namjoon pushed her hair gently out of her face, examining her features as he checked for further injury.

"Are you alright? Can you see? Does your head hurt? Does it hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine," she said. "Fine enough." He scooted himself closer to her, guiding her between his legs and curling his knee so she was propped up against his leg as he grabbed her face and turned it gently this way and that.

"I'm okay, I can tell. My arm and these burns and cuts will need some bandages, but other than that I'm alive and ok."

He sighed, pulling her into a hug. "Why didn't you tell me you were the burglar in my apartment last night?" he whispered. In Hae breathed into his neck, not wanting to pull away. The warm, full feeling in her stomach pulled her toward him, but her brain prompted her body away. She looked at him. "We need to go somewhere we can talk," she said. He nodded, helping her to her feet.

Together, they hurried out the hole in the wall, ignoring the crowd standing in the entryway. In Hae felt bad, but she couldn't talk to the police right now. She knew they'd be looking. It was a good thing they all paid with cash.

They avoided the street, walking between buildings whenever they could, until they came to a dive bar In Hae knew well. The bartender who seemed to be always working was a deviant himself. His vision was impeccable. 20/20 in both the center of his vision and in his peripherals.

"Andy, could I get a whiskey. 90 proof. It doesn't matter what kind," In Hae said tiredly as she shuffled in, leaning on Namjoon as he helped her to a booth.

"Same," Namjoon said.

He sat her down in a booth in the corner and went back to the bar briefly, saying something to Andy and returning to sit next to her with a first aid kit.

"Good thinking," she gasped. He pulled her legs up on top of his lap, turning her body gently and leaning her against the wall. She winced as he tenderly glided his hands over the cuts and burns. He opened the kit, removing neosporin and bandages, and gently applied them to the wounds. In Hae took the time to look over his features and body. She couldn't see a mark on him.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" she asked. He paused briefly, looking at her. He scowled, thinking, before shaking his head and continuing with his cleaning and bandaging.

"Ah, how could you come around in a dress like this when you knew something like that might happen? You could have worn jeans at least. It could have been so much worse, ah."

He continued to scold her, his tone harsher than his touch. In Hae stared at a painting of a wine bottle on the wall, trying to suppress the smirk tearing at the corners of her mouth. Namjoon left her once more and returned with what looked like pieces of cloth as well as their drinks. The drink was no sooner placed on the table when it was grabbed, making its way to In Hae's mouth.

She gulped it eagerly, her zeal halted by the burn in her throat. She let her mouth adjust to the feeling as she breathed the fire down her throat.

"Which shoulder is it?" Namjoon asked, leaving his drink untouched.

She turned her left shoulder to him and continued sipping her drink as he gently made a sling around her neck and slipped her arm through it.

"How's that feel?"

"Better," she said. She put her drink down and turned to him. "Are you sure you're not hurt anywhere? How is that possible? What happened after I, or, after the sad man enveloped me, I guess you could say."

He scratched his head and touched the back of his neck, staring at the table.

"I'm not completely sure," he admitted, finally picking up his drink and hesitantly letting the liquid touch his lips as he inhaled a molecule of liquor.

"I was hiding behind the table pretty shaken up," he said sheepishly. "I…I didn't know what was going on and I was scared. But then I saw the really depressed looking guy become like a black tent and envelope you and I got really angry. I stood up and jumped over the table and sort of looked at him. That guy, uh…"

"Taehyung? The Troublemaker?"

"Yeah, him." He paused. "Were you really going to kiss him?"

"No, come on," In Hae stuttered. "We have a long history, it's called banter, I was putting myself above him."

"Uh, anyway, I sort of, everything started to vibrate around me. It's almost like I stopped breathing and started to radiate heat, and each wave of heat was like a hand, reaching. I felt like if I wanted to any one or all of those hands could reach out and touch anything I wanted it to. I imagined them grabbing some of those weird little balls from the bomb guy who was passed out and pressing them to Taehyung and the depressed guy. And then all of a sudden, it happened, exactly as I pictured it. There were explosions and suddenly they ran away. He looked surprised. They both looked surprised. But then the Tae guy. He smiled at me, as he was leaving, he smiled and disappeared. Then I ran over to you and you were gasping and we ran away. All those people saw."

He'd been fiddling with his drink and looking at the liquid as he swirled it around, and now he looked at In Hae.

"What's happening to me?" His voice shook, and his brow trembled slightly. In Hae pressed her lips, feeling his confusion and anxiety in her own chest. He looked up as he felt her wrap the fingers from her good hand around his arm, squeezing comfortably. His eyes locked with hers, the dark amber of his gaze searching her face before he grew self-conscious and looked away, back at his glass, which he lifted to his lips again, drinking deep this time. A dimple emerged on his cheek once again as he smiled nervously and began to drink.

As In Hae stared at the dimple, the feeling, the Kahlua, burst like water breaking through a dam in her stomach, spreading to her limbs and filling her brain. Without realizing it, In Hae pushed herself up to her knees, ignoring her arm, and turned to him in the booth, bringing her face up to Namjoon and causing him to splutter the whiskey he'd drunk back into his glass, setting it down hard as he swallowed and looked at her, leaning back. He breathed out harshly through his mouth, staring from her eyes to her lips as she did the same just inches from his face. Namjoon brought his hand to the back of her head in the same instant she brought her lips to his, tasting the whiskey on his breath and feeling the thrill rise in his stomach as it jumped into her chest and mixed and mingled with the warm, sweet feeling, creating something new altogether, like someone had set off firecrackers in a pool of water.

In Hae closed her eyes, moving from his bottom lip to his top, swiping it with her tongue and she deepened the kiss and made him sigh. It felt like lines of electricity running over her face and through her hair. She felt Namjoon bring her into his chest, his arms wrapping themselves around her waist. He was so warm. Radiating even. She pulled herself away gently, looking at his eyes.

There was a gleam in them as he slowly opened his lids and gazed at her. Then they both started. They weren't in the booth anymore. In fact, they seemed to be in someone's apartment. A dingy, dirty place that smelled like the windows hadn't been opened in months.

"What?" In Hae muttered.

"Uh," Namjoon pulled her and himself up from their knees to a standing position. "I thought I felt like we were floating or flying. Or something. I couldn't feel the seat anymore. But I didn't think…what?"

Suddenly the door to the room burst open. Andy the bartender looked at them both, angry.

"I know you had a tough time, In Hae, but tell your boyfriend not to take you through the ceiling and into my bedroom when you're in the mood. This isn't a motel!"

They both gaped at him.

"Sorry, Andy, it wasn't on purpose, we're coming down," In Hae said apologetically. They quickly walked past him through the door and down a dingy set of stairs, back to the familiar bar, their two drinks still sitting where they'd left them. In Hae and Namjoon sat back down, silently attending to their drinks. Namjoon broke the silence.

"Was that you?"

"What?" She jumped. Her chest was a flurry of different emotions and she couldn't settle them down. She'd been focusing on pushing them back and failing when Namjoon spoke.

"The ceiling thing." He pointed up with his finger and smiled hesitantly, looking at her sheepishly.

She bit her lip. "No, it's not me. I can only…I feel what other people are feeling. That was…I have to tell you something."


End file.
